turbulent skies over disputed islands. japan reacts strongly after a chinese plane flies over its territory. an airplane from china's maritime authorities intruded into japan's airspace over the senkaku islands. that's in the east china sea. jets were scrambled to the scene. japan controls the senkaku islands, china and taiwan claimed them. the japan coast guard says one of its vessels spotted the plane thursday morning and reported it to japan's defense ministry.

it was about 15 kilometers south of the uotsuri islands. part of the senkaku island chain. the minister says eight f-15 fighters from the air self defense force based in okinawa were dispatched in response. but when they arrived the chinese plane had already left japanese airspace. the coast guard photo of the chinese aircraft shows letters on the plane's body indicating it belongs to china's state oceanic administration. the defense ministry says this was the first such intrusion by a chinese aircraft since the self-defense forces began keeping records. the coast guard says the plane was initially spotted around 10:40 a.m. local time. coast guard officials confirmed the intrusion at 11:06 and the plane moved out of sight four minutes later. the coast guard vessel radioed a warning to the aircraft not to enter japanese airspace. the aircraft responded that it was flying over chinese territory. also on thursday, four maritime

patrol boats intruded into japanese waters off the senkaku islands. the japanese government has launched a protest with china over the air space intrusion. >> translator: the intrusion is very regrettable. the government has launched a strong protest with china through diplomatic channels. >> chief cabinet secretary osamu fujimura prime minister yoshihiko noda ordered the area guarded and surveyed. tension is high as senior officials of related ministries meet to share information. he added that the government is determined to remain calm under any situation but will respond firmly to any act that infringes on japan's sovereignty based on domestic law. china's foreign ministry has

>> translator: we will take all necessary measures to prevent this from happening again. sdf chief of staff said they were informed of the intrusion by the coast guard. he also said there has been no confirmation of how long the plane was in japanese airspace or what its route was. he said he did not why the sdf radar failed to sight the plane saying it could the size of the aircraft, altitude and the distance away. china's foreign ministry has reiterated the country's territorial claim of the senkakus. >> translator: it is only natural a chinese aircraft flew in the area because the islands belong to china. >> hong also said the country urged japan to stop what he called illegal activities in waters around and in airspace over the islands. meanwhile, china's state oceanic administration reported

that an airplane flew through the area on thursday morning. the authorities said it was conducting a patrol mission along with four surveillance ships. it demanded that japanese ships leave the waters at once. earlier, shery ahn had this conversation with a security analyst and he spent 32 years in the maritime defense force. >> we've been seeing tensions between japan and china for quite some time now, but today china went as far as coming into japanese airspace. what's your take on this? >> yes. it's much more danger than the issue because every countries use military force, especially air force, to respond on the airspace incursion. on the other hand, the japanese coast guard is dealing with

china's lower air force ships. so i think this action will involve military force into this dispute. so there is a possibility to escalate both countries' actions. >> quite a dangerous situation. do you think china could take further action over the islands? >> i don't think so. but it is very difficult to find out which level decided to let the aircraft invading japanese airspace. but once happen, this kind of issue, the china's leaders or headquarters must support this

kind of action. but we cannot see any kind of change of china's leaders intention for the senkaku islands. the president has already started the campaign to get rid of the corruption. he doesn't want to escalate any other dispute with this campaign. so i think it's danger to take action by simplistic thinking way. i hope both japan and china, dealing with issue very calmly.

authorities in north korea have provided a boost for their leader and they've uncreased their threat to their neighbors. they say they succeeded in launching a rock tote put a satellite into space. officials in south korea, japan and the u.s. say the north koreans actually fired off a long-range missile. the state broadcaster has played this video repeatedly throughout the past day. it's the first time they released a video filmed at the actual launch site. previously they showed images from the screen at the control facility. >> translator: even countries with developed satellite technology have had many failed launches but we learned from the failure in april. we launched today's rocket with a conviction to succeed. >> the first stage fell into the yellow sea west of the korean peninsula.

the nose cover fell a short distance beyond that. the second stage dropped into the pacific ocean east of the philippines. an american astrophysicist says what the north koreans call a satellite is an orbit commonly used by intelligence in observation satellites. jonathan mcdowell is the harvard smithsonian center for astro physics. he says the object seems to be orbiting south/north about 500 kilometers above earth. south korea says the north was trying to create confusion before its launch. the government says the moves were intended to bewilder the international community. south korean defense ministry spokesperson kim suk wrangled with the criticism over his country's intelligence gathering capabilities. >> translator: it appears that north korea carried out a series of deceptive actions in launching this long-range

missile. >> the launch came just a day after the south korean government announced that the rocket was being removed from the pad. kim said the situation changed between tuesday morning and afternoon. he suggested that the north most likely put the rocket back on the pad on tuesday afternoon but he says media reports were based on the situation in the morning. he also suggested that within several months the north could have the ability to carry out a nuclear test. a majority of policymakers at the u.s. central bank forecast its 0 interest rate policy will be kept on hold until 2015. that's their view based on economic data. the federal reserve announced on wednesday after its two-day policy board meeting that it will continue to keep interest rates close to zero. that's until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5% or below and while the inflation rate stays below 2.5%. fed chairman ben bernanke said

the new targets were aimed at clarifying its policies. >> by tying future economic policy more explicitly to economic conditions this formulation of our policy guidance should also make monetary policy more transparent and predictable to the public. >> the fed's latest economic outlook shows the unemployment rate will drop to 6 to 6.6% from the current 7.7% and 13 said they expect the near zero interest rates to continue until 2015. finance ministers from all ihi corporation and three other firms in the machinery and ship building industry aim to construct the facility off the coast of rio. they plan to set up a joint

entity to prepare for the bidding process. it is part of an estimated $120 billion project to develop an oil field at a deck of 2,000 meters under the sea bed. it will be built more than 300 kilometers away from the coast. it will have a huge storage space for equipment as well as sleeping quarters for workers. south korean and chinese companies are currently leaders in building offshore rigs. japan's government is set to support japanese businesses in gaining a share of the growing market. an assassination plot is complicating cross-border relations with. patchari raksawong has the story. >> reporter: afghanistan and pakistan agreed to investigate last week's attempted assassinati assassination. tensions have risen since they

said the assassination was planned on the other side of the border. the chief of afghanistan's national director of security was seriously wounded. a close aide to president hamid karzai, he was the target of a suicide bomber posing as a taliban peace envoy. karzai indirectly said the assassination plot was drawn up inside pakistan and the attack came from that country. karzai met his pakistani counterpart in the turkish capital on wednesday. they agreed to establish a joint working group to investigate the incident. >> we should be taking practical steps in bringing more confidence and trust with reserves to the countries of afghanistan and pakistan. >> i consider all incidents which are meaningful and the fact that we are hurting them.

therefore, they're striking us hard back. >> reporter: militant groups based in pakistan's northwestern tribal areas frequently cross into afghanistan to carry out attacks. the afghan government has accused pakistan's intelligence agency of providing support to insurgents. but afghanistan needs pakistan's influence to negotiate peace with the taliban. in afghan envoy visited pakistan last month to press the issue. pakistan also released nine taliban prisoners believed to have a positive stance toward peace negotiations. wednesday's meeting in ankara appears to be an attempt to keep efforts to reconcile with the taliban on track. bangladesh is one of asia's economic rising stars but not everyone enjoys the benefits. more than 70% of the population lives in rural areas with limited access to education and technology. and now a simple service to connect them is gaining

momentum. nhk world reports. >> reporter: ladies cycle into the farming villages of bangladesh. the ladies cycle house to house to villages where electricity are rare. their main tool is a battery powered laptop. it connects to the internet over a mobile phone network. >> translator: a blaze at a textile factory in the capital is making headlines. >> reporter: this lady reads news and important headlines for farmers. many people in these areas are illiterate. the ladies use simple lang that -- language that is easy to understand. >> translator: it's a great help

to have someone tell us what is happening outside our village. >> reporter: the service began four years ago. affordable process made it available. the basic service costs two cents for ten minutes. for 11 cents, the info lady will send an e-mail. this woman is talking by video link to her son working in saudi arabia. >> translator: i was so happy to see my son's face. >> reporter: the digital divide is widening between urban and rural areas of bangladesh. in this northern district, less than half the population can read or write. a nonprofit organization at first provided the village with personal computers but few people came to use them. as the computers sat idle, it decided on a new approach.

>> when they don't come, then we provide it to ensure this to villagers. it's the concept. >> reporter: this is the first time this man has used the info lady service. his eggplant will soon be ready for harvest. he wants to know how much they will fetch at the market. he normally sends his vegetable to a middleman. but he learns his eggplants are worth more than the middleman told him. he decides to take the vegetables direct to the market himself. >> translator: i'll pay $7.70 for 40 killograms. >> i heard it's $8.30.

fine, i'll pay $8.30 then. >> translator: i was able to sell my vegetables for a higher price than last year because of the info ladies. i want to use their service. >> reporter: this service helps narrow the information gap between the urban and rural areas. more bangladesh villages are waiting for the cycle ladies to arrive in their villages. >> that will wrap up the bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. people in japan will be doing something this weekend they don't usually do. they'll be voting in a general election. the prime minister and his

democrats are fighting to stay in government. the former ruling liberal democrats are trying to convince voters to give their party another chance at holding power. when japan decides this sunday, voters will be picking lawmakers for the lower house of the diet. they'll be using their ballots to express how they feel about the democratic party and how its led the country for the past three years. these 12 groups met the criteria to be called a political party in this election. they include long established parties and several new ones that were just founded. a number of other groups failed to meet the standards but are still fielding candidates. voters have a lot of issues to consider before they head to the polling stations. one of them involves opening up their markets. politicians are divided over whether japan should join the transpacific partnership. the free trade agreement would scrap tariffs and trade barriers. some believe it would scrap

some believe it would revitalize the economy and others think it will be a trade barrier. walking us through the debate. >> reporter: he has farmed these fields over 40 years. he grows rice and soybeans in northern japan. he's concerned his 30 hectare farm is too small to compete with farmers in the united states. >> translator: the tpp would be catastrophic for us. the government hasn't showed us what would happen if japan joined the pact. >> reporter: japanese farmers have been some of the most vocal opponents of the transpacific partnership. they say eliminating tariffs would allow cheaper agricultural produce such as rice and wheat to flood their market. agriculture is just one of many areas the tpp would cover. others include intellectual property and medical services.

u.s. government officials are leading the trade initiative. ten other countries, including mexico and canada, are taking part in the talks. prime minister yoshihiko noda is steering japan towards negotiations but he hasn't made a commitment yet. he's facing opposition from within his own party because of the ongoing pressure by the farmers. business leaders want japan to dive in. they say joining the tpp will help all electronics makers maintain a competitive edge. >> translator: japan should join the negotiations as soon as possible. that's the most important thing. >> reporter: noda has said he wanted to make the tpp a key election issue, however, the democrats stop just short of clarifying a manifesto, whether japan should join the trade negotiations.

many party members are still reluctant. the main opposition, liberal democratic party is just as cautious. analysts point out that farmers have been long time lbp supporters but the leader isn't turning his back on the business community. he has said he's confident a government led by his party would be able to negotiate with the u.s. and other tpp nations on exceptions for eliminating tariffs on certain products. so voters in japan are left with more questions than answers about when or whether their country will take part in the tpp negotiations. the debate over the merits or demerits of joining this massive pact will likely continue long after the general election is over. nhk world, tokyo. our coverage leading up to sunday's general election will continue.

we'll focus friday on foreign policy. the next japanese government will have to navigate some choppy waters. we'll take a look at the challenges leaders must face. "nhk world" special coverage, japan's general election is just a click or tap away. starting december 10th, we'll be adding a host of features to web and mobile sites and you'll find background and analysis and in-depth reports on issues that could define the campaign from energy policy to disaster recovery and foreign affairs and more. get online and learn more. the storm has passed from the philippines. our meteorologist is here with more. robert? >> well, we are still watching this. the cyclone evan still spinning out here. we have the center of circulation very defined in the

islands. they're underrate at this time. you're seeing some absolute damaging winds. we're seeing widespread reports of power lines down, trees down all across the islands here. really just creating an absolute mess. it does look like the storm is continuing to linger over the next 24 hours before it is expected to move off to the west impacting fiji early next week. at this time, still packing strong winds. 120 kilometer per hour winds. this is a category 3 cyclone. really, you're going to be getting battered in the next 24 hours across samoa. going into sunday, you're going to start to see clearing conditions. once again, that's when fiji, you're going to start to see the conditions go down hill. we're still going to watch this as a continuing developing story across the islands in the pacific. but while we're talking about tropical systems, let's look at the north. in the philippines at this time last week we were still watching

a very strong and potent typhoon that moved across here. take a look at the track. it moved over here and then towards the northwest. but as it moved over, one of the strongest storms that ever hit this portion of the philippines. this is the numbers at this time. absolutely staggering. upwards of 902 dead, over 900 missing. that's 1,800 lost or missing at this time. so really a devastating scenario across the southern philippines. and another number i want you to look at, 150,000 people have had their homes damaged. so continuing to pick up the pieces now. the good news is that tropical season is starting to slow down across the western pacific. still going to be seeing some afternoon thunderstorms pop-up, at least in the near term. nothing significant across this area. let's look further to the north. we're talking about a low pressure area coming in and out of china. that's going to move over into japan. this high pressure is going to back off. it's been keeping things dry for the time being. as this works its way off, may

see a dusting of snow across the korean peninsula. this is mainly going to be rain by snow because we're seeing a surge of warm air ahead of it. that's going to be changing this all over to rain showers. tokyo, high of 12 for you. seoul, you'll start to cool off as that front starts to move by. and into beijing, just getting to the 2 degree mark on your friday. let's look into the meshamerica. two different scenarios here. wet in the west and staying dry to the east. actually fire weather danger across the ohio river valley at this time. that's going to start to subside though going into the weekend. eventually next week because of this storm system. right now it's actually bringing rain showers and even thunderstorm activity across the four corners. that's going to work its way to the east. by the early part of next week, plans coming out of the east coast, you may want to check in ahead of time. that could cause airport delays. continuing to watch that storm

system. pat civ the pacific northwest, similar situation for you. temperatures remaining on the cool side. single digits here in vancouver and seattle. look to the east, atlanta getting to the mid teens here on your thursday. now here's a look at your extended forecast.

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